Previously published in the Fall, 2004 ATransC NewsJournal (Vol. 23, 4)
Last quarter, we described how Arthur Soesman of the Netherlands was able to capture faces with a video camera and a bottle that is partially filled with water. He examines each frame of the video, seeking phenomenal features. In effect, he is substituting reflection from agitated water for the feedback noise used in Video ITC. The phenomenal features are often more distorted, probably because of the bottle, but they are impressive.
Erland Babcock has taken up Soesman’s challenge, only he has substituted a digital camera for the video camera. You can see the brown jug Erland found in the accompanying picture. The results have been impressive and continue to improve with each experiment. He told us he is submitting some of his work to an art contest.
We h
ave included a good example to the left. You can see an arch of reflected light that is not part of the phenomenal images. The arc is rising from the bottom of the picture and more to your left of center. A round-faced man’s chin is just touching the top of the arc. The dark area above that is the man’s mouth and above that are two dark areas, which are his eyes, look at your right ear.
Just to the right of center is a man looking to your left. There is a bright line in the shape of an arc opening to the top of the page above his nose. This is not part of the feature. Just above that arc are his brow line and a well-defined left eye. You should be able to make out the man’s mouth, left cheekbone and hairline/temple.
Below is a recent experiment, in which we see what looks like an old, tall man in the background with long hair blowing in the wind to your right. His right ear sticks out from his hair more like a mule’s ear. He is looking toward you but down at the girl. Directly under his chin is a translucent dome hat, in which you can see the head and hair of a little girl facing your right. Hair on the left side of her head is blowing past her left cheek. It looks like her bare shoulders are pulled up, as if hunching down against the wind that is at her back.
Just in front of her is possibly a boy wearing the same type of hat. His chin is sloped into his neck and you can see his open mouth just under his nose that is facing up. He may have a dog in front of him looking at the boy.
That is really amazing! Especially because the technique itself is so simple. I did some experiments on this subject on my own and took picture from boiling water inside a glas-kettle and also found strange faces.